BOOK REVIEW: Crossed, Cursed, & Nearly Dead - O.J. Barré (2026 - ARC)
I’ve been really excited to check out Crossed, Cursed, & Nearly Dead by O.J. Barré for quite some time now, because O.J. and I have been acquainted on Substack for a year or more at this point, but I’m rather notorious for not reading serialized things over there so often as I read one-shot articles, which I wish wasn’t the case (also, frankly, am getting a bit disillusioned with the platform in general, so I’ve been reading less and less overall there). So, since I haven’t been reading it online but I have wanted to check it out, I signed up for an ARC (advanced reader copy) of the book to check out.
Premise
As I understand it, Crossed, Cursed, & Nearly Dead (cool title, btw) is chronologically the sixth book in O.J.’s series, which starts with Awen Rising, Awen Storm, and Awen Tide, before continuing with two prequels, The Druids of Marduk pt. I & II. I’m not sure how much time has passed between Awen Tide and CC&ND, but from context within the books, it seems like it hasn’t been that long. I recognized the side character of Emily as the main character of the Awen trilogy, so presumably the events mentioned in this new book are referring to the events of the previous books. To her credit, this makes me quite curious about the original trilogy.
In this book, there are a few mysteries lurking around: What happened to Morgan Foster? Why is Sean O’Leary still haunting this place? Who is kidnapping children? Former Assistant Director of the AIA (Alien Intelligence Agency, I think) Elise Johnson takes the lead in answering all of these questions, along with her sisters Rona Wainwright and Honey Dewars, as well as the Awen Order and some helpful fellows in the local force.
What I Loved
First up! Older MCs! I’m admittedly so sick of hot 20-something superheroes saving the world. Or falling in love. Older people deserve stories about them as well, so following Elise’s sore hip, along with her lust for burgers made me smile. Also, the romance that was going on in the background just straight-up made me happy. It was low-stakes, not even in the top-5 most interesting parts of the story, and that’s exactly where I want my romance to sit. Two people just clocking one another as viable partners and then going for it? Hells to the yes!
I was also surprised at the story’s pacing. It certainly didn’t drag out, which I appreciated, but coming from a background of Agatha Christie novels and short stories (murder mysteries, for those not in the know) and having never read a “cop” novel before, this was quite fascinating for me. I was expecting more of a mystery surrounding whodunnit, maybe some misleads or that sort of thing, but was pleased that this was actually made pretty clear right from the start. The mystery, if there was one at all, was who was in charge of this nefarious plot, how they could be proven responsible, and how to catch them. All of this kept things going pretty smoothly throughout.
What Could Have Been Better
If I was the editor of this book, I would have put a little more push into characterization and description, as well as emotional consequences. For example, coming into the series in book 6 meant that I didn’t have a lot of context for who the other characters are or why they’re important. I felt a bit like Rona and even more so Honey were not particularly important to anything, but the story pushes the idea that this is the start of the story of the Triple D Detectives, of which they are two members. In the end, Elise does pretty much everything and she’s assisted by the Awen Order and the police force more than her sisters.
I could have also handled a bit more emotional depth, though this could also be a side effect of coming into the series late. Chances are, if I had read the earlier books, I’d be more up on who’s who and why they care and what they’ve been through. There are a lot of references to the events of what I assume happened in the original trilogy, and that’s fine. But if you’re uncovering a child trafficking ring, I might hope that there would be some emotional scarring after what they saw, and the emotional outcome was definitely immediate, but didn’t continue too far beyond, which is a shame.
What Would I Like to See?
I’m curious to see this tale continue! While the main perpetrators do get… well, “caught” isn’t quite right, the trafficking ring doesn’t unfortunately get dismantled yet, so there’s definitely room for a sequel. I hope she keeps writing this! I love these middle-aged leads.
I also loved the Atlanta setting, as someone not that familiar with the US broadly, so getting a taste of the south was nice—I wouldn’t have hated a bit more description (using a few more senses as well) here and there, just to boost the immersion and help the reader sink a little deeper into the setting.
Overall
Honestly, urban low fantasy with a secret world of lizard people isn’t the sort of thing I would normally steer towards, but it’s nice to pick up a book now and then to shake things up, and I actually had a lot of fun reading this one. O.J.’s got a gentle way with words that are straightforward and direct. You don’t need to sit and figure out what she’s talking about, you can just sink in and go for as long as you feel like it. Things keep moving forward at a solid clip and the ending feels satisfying but leaves you wanting more. I might have to pick up a few more of her books (I’ve read a little bit of the first Druids of Marduk prequel), just to get a better idea of what’s been going on before now, because I’m certainly intrigued.
Curious about Bear’s fantasy writing? Check out the teaser sample of The Vitmar Chronicles, Volume I: An Ending & A Beginning!
